The Fine Line Between Life and Death
by xKazuko
Summary: As the time of doom for Clock Town grows near, Anju unfolds the story of her and Kafei to the small boy named Link.
1. Prologue: A Doomed Inn

Disclaimer: I do not own Link, Tael, Anju, Kafei.. Or any other Zelda charries I use in this story.. And I am not ashamed to admit that I am fully aware of that fact..

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Clock Town has been virtually deserted. The moon hung too low, too high in the sky; it's usually hidden face grinning with menace. This was the reason everyone had left. Lamps were left lit, doors left unlocked. Pets and clothes and belongings were forgotten. The festival was pushed aside. The moon was falling, and Clock Town would be annihilated. 

Only a few people of faith still wandered the streets, but now gave in to the panic and resorted to scavenging for anything that could help them get away in time. It was a quarter to midnight.. And the moon was set to drop soon.

But the Stock Pot Inn was not empty. In a room at the top of the staircase, marked for employees only, sat a red headed girl and a green-clad, blonde- haired boy. This boy is none other than Link, characterized by the neon colored orb of light bobbing around the both of their heads as the two talked. Every once in awhile, Link would swat Tael away, and she would retreat into his hat to sulk in her impatience. It was obvious this fairy wasn't fond of this particular girl.

"But Anju, you should leave. It isn't safe.." He said, dropping his hands palm up on his lap for effect. "No. I told you, Link. He's going to come for me. I have faith in him. I'm going to wait until Kafei gets here." She said it firmly and slowly, yet very calmly. Her mind was made up, and Link nor his fairy nor his warnings would make her see differently. "But why? What if he doesn't come?" He said in his youthful voice. (1)  
"He will, Link. I trust him." She said, again very calmly, as if she'd had to repeat this many times. There was something about this Kafei that Link knew, but Anju didn't. Something he wasn't sure he should tell her.  
In his naive little mind, Anju should know that her Kafei would not return to her as he left.. But something ( cough Tael cough ) told him it would hurt her more to know than to wait for him until her time of blissful death.. Which was growing ever closer.

"Tell me, Anju. Why will you wait?" He said almost pouting, not understanding fully the love she felt for her fiance. Anju put her hands together and lay them on her lap, smiling softly. "I suppose, Link. Since you ask such a general question of me.. I have no choice but to give you the whole answer."

It was made clear to Link in his little mind that Anju had probably inherited her story-telling skills from her grandmother, who'd had a habit of rambling on and having a.. Relaxing sort of effect on people.  
But Link wanted to hear this story. And it seemed time stopped for him there.. That the clocks counting to his doom simply paused in their ascent towards oblivion, to hear Anju tell this story.

This little boy, the sulking fairy in his hat, and time itself was stopped to know what this red-headed girl had to say.

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(1) It's Majora's Mask.. Link's a little kid. -nods- 

Okay.. If ya'll don't like it.. I think I just won't continue it.. I think I have an idea on what way the story may go.... But I'm totally open to any suggestions or comments. Thanks much.


	2. Moving Away

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the... Characters from Zelda.. Or the basic storyline, really.. x.x 

Thank you all muchly for reading... ;; It really has taken me forever to get this done.. Just been real busy lately.. The rest should be a bit faster. Good news, neh?

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The story started with a pretty smile on a pale girl's face. "I'm assuming you know where Milk Road is? And how it ends in that small ranch that's name has been passed down to a small red-headed girl? I've heard from my friend Cremia that you in fact are rather familiar with Romani..." But this wasn't the point of her story.. Time was short, and this was long.. She'd have to delve right into it. 

"I lived there in that small house. It's a wonder that both families seemed both to live in that one-roomed pile of logs and bricks, but it was cozy, and we managed well enough." But she was dawdling.

Life consisted of breezy happiness, dog races, cows' milk, and balloon hunting... But I'm afraid it was the kind of bliss that seems to always be sucked dry with time; not lasting or very strongly supported. But it is flaws in not the stars but in ourselves that make things go wrong.

I don't remember why we left.. But we did. A falling out of peaceful ties between the two amiable families that occupied such small space.

I was barely seven years old when my parents ripped me from the life I'd always known and threw me into a town with more people, more business, more general action and bustle than I'd ever imagined possible.  
I was a stubborn little girl.. And on moving day I refused even to carry my own belongings to the cart, in hopes that if I didn't cooperate, they'd leave me. That seemed best, though foolish. In my small mind I didn't need them.. As long as I had Cremia, everything had to be alright. Naivety I soon lost.

When we got to the East Clock Town gate in Termina Field the guards told us our horses weren't allowed to go any further, so we had to unload there. At this point -after a long ride that had been nothing but boredom and glaring at everything in my sight out the back of our cart- my temper had very much dwindled, but I was still addressing my mother as 'mother' and not, 'mama' as was customary for me at that age. What maddened me further was that she simply laughed these things off.. My tantrums in the back leading to luggage being strewn about, even clothes being torn and pots being dented. She just laughed, as if she understood everything I didn't!  
Chuckled my woes away as if I were some little piece of dust totally and completely irrelevant to her! And this was my own mother, not some critical wench I'd poured my heart out to, or a thief that refuses to take pity in any pain the human race may come asunder.

Fuming, I sat as my mother and father unloaded our cart, listening to my grandmother ramble on about the last time she'd visited Clock Town. I refused to talk to them, simply would not participate in their work of taking boxes and setting them on the ground.

Instead, in my childish and yet rather hateful ponders, I saw from the corner of my eye a flash of blue topple off a tree branch onto the ground. Frowning in confusion, all other thoughts fleeing from my mind, I hopped off the back of the carriage and made my way over to the tall grass surrounding the tree I'd seen the movement from.

I honestly thought I was to encounter some kind of bird... Not stopping to think once that it could be dangerous. It was true that one day when I was much smaller I had wandered beyond our ranch borders and came across a Wolfo.. But thinking they only came out at night, I didn't stop my ascent towards whatever it was that had fallen out of the tree.

What I saw wasn't a wolfo, or a deku -which were more widely seen in town those ten years ago- or even a bird of some kind.. It was a boy. He was rubbing his head of full, dark blue hair while looking up at the tree resentfully. I'd guess that he heard a rustle in the grass and looked up to see the seven year old me looking rather shocked to see him. In fact, the very surprised expression was nearly exactly mirrored on both of our small, immature faces; except that where mine turned to a naive worry, his turned red in embarrassment.

"Are you.. Alright?" The small me asked this boy on the ground, not moving to offer him help in fear he may have.. Yelled or something. I'd interacted with boys my age before, but none lived on the ranch, so it wasn't often. I was only seven, besides, and was not yet able to distinguish any difference or discrimination between the two genders. It was just unusual, that's all.

He nodded the affirmative, maybe a little too vigorously to be quite believable, for he was rubbing his leg with one hand and hesitating to get up.

"You sure?" I pressed on, frown creasing my young brow.

He nodded again, getting up slowly, groaning. "Thanks.." Of course, being his small age of eight, his voice was small and high; even more so with the pain he was so obviously hiding.

I smiled slightly, not sure how I could find this funny... I suppose it struck me odd that he didn't just cry out for his mother -as I would have done- or just express his feelings in their more liquid state. But he didn't. He thanked me, and held out his hand. It should have been apparent to me he'd been brought up rather nobly, because both the tone in his voice and gestures as he did so were horribly practiced.

"I'm Kafei." He said softly. This also proved strange to me. It seemed the last thing he would tell me was his name.

"Anju." I answered, still smiling.

I think I may have asked him again if he'd been hurt.. And, despite his hand ever rubbing his thigh, he assured me he was fine.

I accepted his reason -for who would know better if he was okay than him?- and wandered back over to my mother. To my even further surprise, he followed, offering to help us unload.

My spirits had brightened.. It looked like this boy lived close to where we were moving... Maybe things wouldn't be so terrible here..


	3. Eve of the Festival

Okay.. Chapter 3.. I have written for this in awhile, because no one seems to like it.. -sniff- Haha.. No, I'm joking. I'm just bored of writing about Inu and wanted to get something else out of my system.. 

So here's chapter three..

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"Can I ask you something"  
"Uh.. Yeah"  
"Come on, Anju. That's not a real answer"  
"Okay. Yeah, ask me."

He was wearing a face I'd only seen a couple times before. Real concentration. Not the kind you use for a mathematics test, the kind you use to say something really hard. Like when he told Mayor Dotour it was he who broke the window with the rock or when he had to break the news to Gorman about the accident with his dog.

We were sitting at the laundry pool; no one was around. We did that a lot during our time off lessons and chores. I would say we were nearing 10 or 11.. Maybe 12. His hands were in his lap, his eyes puckered in the difficulty he so obviously had asking whatever it was he was readying himself to ask.

"Kafei…?" I leaned forward when he didn't say anything for a while. Why was he acting so weird?  
"Why do you stay with me? Don't you hear all the other people call me.. Odd?" He looked away from me.

I could have laughed. "Kafei… Since when have I cared what the other people say about anything?" I'm sure my mother would tell me today that that was a very "mature" statement for my age.  
"But Gorman.. He says that you shouldn't be my friend. Because I'm different." Now I frowned. Since when did /he/ listen to /Gorman/? We both knew that boy was nothing more than a bully.

"Don't be silly. I don't care." My eyes strayed to a frog that I had caught hopping in the corner of my eye. Strange.. I'd never seen it there before. I'd never seen a blue frog before with such big eyes, either.  
"But you don't know. I'm /really/ different Anju.. Really." It was like he was pleading with me. Wanting me to say 'Okay, I'll run afraid and never look at you again.'

I didn't say anything. I took his hand and stood up, pulling him off the bench. He raised his eyebrows and asked where we were going or something. I knew my way around by now, even though Clock Town could be a little confusing at times. I had been here four years, after all. (1)

I made my way away from the pool back into South Clock Town, pulling him by the wrist a foot behind me, ignoring the stream of questions coming from him. I stopped at the Tower, looking up at it. The festival was tonight, and they had opened the door for repairs. Something about misleading of fireworks last year or something. We were little, we could sneak by.

And that's just what we did. Not only did we sneak past the carpenters, we got all the way up the stairs.

"Anju!" He cried in hushed tones, looking about with wide eyes. "You're going to get us in trouble"  
"Hush.. You're the one that'll get us caught. Calm down." I sat him down in the corner of the huge roof of the tower, round wall holding us in and offering needed security for my weak-stomached friend.  
"We're fine!" I shouted as I jumped on the low edge of the wall, balancing with my arms out and tiptoeing along the ridge.

"Anju! Get down!" I would have laughed had he not looked so scared. But he was terrified… It was chilling. So I got down and sat next to him.

His nervous glancing stopped after awhile, when the sun started melting into the sea and purple blanketed the light blue. Surely people would start coming up here when the clock struck midnight, but how mad could they get? It was festival night.. Of course they wouldn't dare scold two children on festival night! So we stayed up there, looking at the sky, my head on his shoulder.

**- - - - -**

"Again? Anju, you'll be the death of me"  
"Oh but you know you like it." I didn't notice the furtive glance he gave me as I said that, I didn't see the little blush… I was too excited. "It'll be like old times. We don't spend time together anymore"  
"You're always with…" He trailed off. "Where is Gorman"  
My head tilted to one side as I bit my lip. "He said something about needing to take a visit to Milk Road with his big brother. He promised he'd be back by tonight, though. So we won't be able to stay like we did before."

Again I didn't notice the way his gaze became hooded when I spoke of Gorman. Gorman had been a bully, but he was nice. In a way.  
I don't know how it happened. I think I was thirteen, and it was my birthday. That was when I still spent every waking moment with Kafei. Gorman handed me a wooden horse. He told me that he had liked me since before he could remember and that it made him jealous to see me always with Kafei.  
The word "different" hadn't come up in that situation, but he'd repeated it more than a couple times during our relationship. I kind of brushed it off, wondering what it was he was talking about. He acted really powerful because he knew, but wouldn't tell me. It was like a dark secret that just loomed over my memory of Kafei and ultimately made me forget the boy he was. Distorting him into someone that really was.. "Different".

Slowly I stopped visiting Kafei at the laundry pool. Or anywhere else, for that matter. And the first time Gorman kissed me, I stopped talking to Kafei whenever I chanced him around town. It was weird, but kind of natural, too. Gorman didn't like me talking to him, so I didn't. I should have felt bad, but I didn't really.. He had his other friends. Those twins, and the carpenter's sons were always around him. He didn't need me.

"You're sure this is okay?" He asked, raising his eyebrows as I threw him a blanket.

"No.. But we'll do it anyway." He was looking at the blanket I had torn off the bed and tried to roll up, failing. He unrolled it and folded it neatly. I smirked as he set it on the naked bed and ran a hand through his hair. I had always admired his hair. It was such a nice shade of blue… "Are we leaving?" I asked. It wasn't really a question. He slung the blanket over one shoulder and smiled, nodding.

But he just stood there for a couple moments. Didn't move towards the door or anything. So I grabbed his wrist and led him out. Small acknowledgement to my grandmother as I left the Inn and we set off for South Clock Town again. When his hand closed around mine, I didn't even look back. It didn't really matter.

There was a secret back way that I'd heard about a while ago from that old man in the observatory. Whenever Gorman was on one of his trips to Milk Road I went there. It was often… So often I grew into the habit of calling him grandpa. I think he liked that.

The entrance wasn't hard to find, and we found the stairs. He stood watching me as I took the blanket from his shoulder and set it out. "See?" I cocked one eyebrow as that dumb (2) smile stayed plastered to his face.  
He looked so young but so grown up at the same time. "Kafei?" I remember my short giggle becoming contagious as I sat down on the blanket. He was chuckling when he sat down next to me. We were laughing about nothing. Like back then. I liked that.

As it does every night, the sun bid it's slow farewell to the sky, and we were laying back now. His hands were under his head, mine lazily on my chest. "Kafei?" He had been awfully quiet, but it was okay. We were comfortable.  
"Yeah?" He said after a moment, his eyes dropping to meet mine.

We stayed like that for a moment, nothing touching save our gazes, breath starting to be visible on the air -for neither of us found it all possible to breath with our noses for that moment.. Though why that was I couldn't tell you.

I turned away from him, unsettling feeling in my stomach. "Do you think Gorman's back yet?" That wasn't what I was going to ask him, and I knew it was the wrong question by the way the atmosphere shattered when tension sprang into his body. But maybe that being the wrong question was actually right. That didn't make sense.

"I don't know." He said after sighing heavily, sitting up. "I think we should go back. He'll be worried if you're not there to greet him." I /did/ notice the hint of sarcasm in his words and frowned.

"Yes, he will." I said shortly, frowning.  
I also saw the way his eyes narrowed slightly as he then stood up.  
"Why are you so upset?" I asked, standing up, confused.

"I'm not upset, Anju. What ever gave you that idea?" He wouldn't look at me anymore, but stooped to pick up the blanket and shake it out.

It was then a wind took it and ripped it out of his hands. It dangled in the air for a moment, as if wondering which way to go. I cried out as it was sent dangerously to the edge.. But Kafei was there. He caught it, he caught it by jumping on the ridge of the wall and reaching for it.

The ridge. The same ridge he'd been horrified of just 4 years ago. (3) He didn't say anything as he jumped down and folded the blanket again, but I was shocked.

He shot me a glance and frowned. "Aren't you coming? Gorman will be suspicious if I'm the only one that returns, won't he?" There was that coldness again. What was the matter with him?

He didn't wait for me, but started walking. "He doesn't know I'm here with you!" I called after him, following down the stairs.  
He had stopped a couple stairs below me, looking back. "Why not? Embarrassed?" I stopped, squinting to see him in the dark.

"No… He'd be mad." I bit my lip. What, was I supposed to lie?  
"Oh. I see." He started walking again, his whole person closed to me.  
"Kafei, wait." I skipped down the couple of stairs to meet and stop him.

He looked up, sighing again. "What? I thought you were in a hurry to get back." He /sneered/, at /me/.. I could hardly believe it.  
I couldn't even remember what it was I had planned to say. "You're so different.." He was being bitter and cold towards me. "Do you.. You don't.. Aren't we friends anymore?" I think I was blinking back tears by then, my voice nearly caught in my throat at times.

"Anju.. We've grown apart. This was a bad idea." He looked down and started walking again. /Again/ without me.  
"What? Why? Kafei!" I was crying by then. I don't know why. This was so bad.. It was so.. Horrible. It was like a nightmare. The things I had done were crashing down on me. I left him and he forgot our friendship. It was like he had forgotten who he was when he was with me.

"What?! What do you want from me? Haven't you taken enough?" He glanced back and I'm sure he saw the tears streaming down my cheeks. This only made him want to get away from me more, I could tell, but he didn't move any longer.  
"Well what does that mean?" I sobbed, my voice in pieces. This was hardly fair. He was making me a mess right before I saw my boyfriend.. And I couldn't even figure out why this was hurting me so much.

He looked back at me again, and I could feel regret. I could feel it coming from him. It wasn't only regret. It was hurt, too. His eyes were telling me he wished he could tell me. "You don't want to know." Was his voice breaking as mine, or was that a trick of the echo in this spiral of bricks?

"Kafei.." It was like a whisper. It was barely a whisper. I wanted to reach out, to touch him. To have him hold me. Gorman never held me… Not really. He hugged me, but he didn't hold me. I never felt precious, I never felt /loved/. He kissed me but he never entrapped me or enthralled me with his lips. It wasn't passionate, it was rough. It was meaningless and… Nothing more than possession.

And here was Kafei.. Looking at the ground. And I was crying, pleading inside my head that he'd reach for me and take me in his arms and let me know that everything I thought I saw was real. That he had changed for the better, and that he still loved me.

"Don't cry, Anju. Not for me. Don't cry for me." He cleared his throat carefully as he started walking again. "I'll give you the blanket later." He mumbled, disappearing from my view.

The tears didn't stop. They doubled.. And they vocalized and my knees gave in and I crumpled on the stairs.

* * *

Aw.. Poor Anju. -pats Anju- And poor Kafei. -pats Kafei- xP

This makes me want to write a story from his POV.. Fill in all the blanks.. Ah.. Yes, I may do that when I'm done with this. -nods-

(1) I think I said she was seven when she got there.. So four years later would make them eleven. Uh huh.  
(2) When I say dumb.. I don't mean like /me/ dumb.. I mean silent. Sure, I could have said silent, but dumb had a better effect. Yeah.  
(3) Another four years... Which makes them 15. -nods-

R&R.. I like this story so you should too! -fumes- x.x


	4. Tension Rising

Hello again.. -blinks- I got a review! -huggles reviewer- This one isn't as popular as muh Inu one.. But I like it better.. xPP So READ IT. And REVIEW IT.. -sigh- I suppose all I can do is keep writing it. 

I've been disconnected from the internet, so I can't check what the reviewer's name was, but I'm still thankful.. xD And the age thing was /supposed/ to confuse you.. I think -blinks-.. And OF COURSE I'm going to do all of that you suggested.. It's not like the story's finished with three chapters or anything. And it wasn't twelve to sixteen.. It was like… ten to fourteen.. I want it to get a whole lot more.. Angsty and tear-jerking.. xD For your delight.. And because /littoh/ likes to cry.. -pokes Littoh- Ahehehe..

No ownership.. Forgot to mention that last chapter.. x.x Yay! R&R.. Enjoy!

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"What's the matter?" He raised a hand to rid my cheeks of the tear stains. I had tried to compose myself, but he found me so quickly. I barely had time to get back to the inn before Grandma told me he'd been looking for me. I turned back down the stairs and he was standing there, grinning. The smile fell when he saw I'd been crying. Dammit. 

"Gorman I.." What was I supposed to say? 'I think I wanted Kafei to kiss me.'? Or no, maybe 'Kafei was mean.'? That would just make him angry and he would go wail on Kafei…. Where it wasn't Kafei's fault at all. "Nothing." I ended up saying, swallowing hard the words that wanted to be spoken.

He blinked and smiled again. "Okay." Gah, was he easy to convince or what? I smiled reluctantly and he hugged me. Hugged me.

No one ever really commented on the fact he was so much older than me. No one really cared. He was at least five years my senior, but it was he that pursued me, not the other way around, so people accepted it. His family wasn't rich as Kafei's was, but they weren't poor either; and though everyone knew he had two older brothers, it was common knowledge he had been spoiled rotten since birth. In short, Gorman got what he wanted. And he had wanted me. And now I was his. For some reason, I felt good being possessed like that. It made me feel like I belonged. You hear women talking about how they hate pig-headed men that think women are objects but the way I look at it.. If they love you enough to want you all to themselves, what's so horrible?

"Listen. I have something for you." He looked down at me, smirking. "I'm sure you'll love it." He took both of my hands in his and leaned forward. "It's very… _Exciting_." He whispered. His lips against my ear made me shiver slightly in… Was it discomfort? He took it as pleasure and raised my mouth to his.

It was nice. It was always nice. He told me I was expert, which made me want to do it more. Now that I think about it, that's probably _why _he told me I was so good at the kissing thing.

But this time it was different. Where usually he pretended to be the shy, chivalrous knight, now he was forcing my lips apart, leaving my hands at his sides while his started at my waist and edged north.

It was unsettling. It was too drastic a change. And I stopped. He pulled back, looking hurt. "Anju…" There was that glint in his eye that told me he would be angry if I didn't have a good enough excuse for this."I'm sorry.. But I'd like my gift." I grinned cheekily, trying to throw him off. I couldn't let him think I wasn't _enjoying _it.  
The wary, suspicious expression melted into another smirk as he tapped my nose. "Tonight. After the festival." Without another word he grabbed my hand and led me outside.

"Now Anju I've-" He was cut off as he opened the door and saw Kafei standing there, reaching for the doorknob. It was weird. The last time I'd had seen them standing face-to-face like this, Kafei was at least a foot shorter than Gorman; but he stood only an inch or two shorter now, despite the said age difference.

"What do you want?" Gorman's eyebrows rose as I felt panic bubble. Oh gods, he was bringing back the blanket! It was over his shoulder… He would tell Gorman he had my blanket because we were sitting up on the top of Clock Tower together..  
"That's none of your business." Kafei retorted, keeping his eyes deliberately far from mine.  
"Yes it is. Why are you here?" Gorman paused, narrowing his eyes when he recognized the blanket Kafei was holding. Funny how in times like these he was so observant. "Why do you have Anju's blanket?" He blinked and turned to me. "Anju, why does he have that?" I felt as if he'd put a spot light on me.. Or shoved me in an oven. Pressure? Yes, pressure.

"I…" What? I what? I couldn't figure out anything to say. There was no clever excuse, because I wasn't sure I wanted to lie to him. If I told him something other than the truth, he may find out later and be even angrier. Which would be even worse.  
"She wouldn't know. My mother borrowed it from her grandmother. Wanted to show my visiting aunt how pretty the stitching was. Or something." Kafei said dully. "I've been sent to bring it back. But again, it's none of your business."

I'm sure I was staring at him, dumbfounded, winded. His eyes moved from Gorman's challenge to touch mine once more, involuntary thrill ensuing. He didn't wink or smirk as I would have expected from him those three or four years ago, he just looked… Bored. Which made his story all the more believable. Believable to Gorman anyway.

"Whatever." He muttered, sneering as he pushed Kafei roughly out of the way and pulled me by the hand out of the Inn. I looked back to see Kafei leaning against the door, watching us leave. I raised a hand in goodbye and attempted to smile but he turned away and closed the door behind him.

Man did I feel like crap.

"I don't like that kid. I think I'm going to have to tell him to leave you alone." Gorman grumbled after a moment or two.  
"What are you talking about? He didn't even say anything. He was there to see grandma." I was still a little confused. Why did Kafei do that? What could he possibly gain by lying for me?

Well.. If he had let me tell the truth, he would have been beat to a pulp…

"I don't like the way he looks at you." He growled simply.  
"He didn't look at me." I argued, frowning. He didn't. He avoided looking at me. Why? Why did he seem to dislike me so much all of a sudden? Was he really so bitter that I didn't talk to him anymore?  
"Yes he did. He looked at you like he wanted to just pounce you or something. I've told you a hundred times that kid's a freak. Don't talk to him." He glanced back at me, raising an eyebrow. Would I contradict him?  
"Okay.." I looked away, following dutifully. Whatever… Maybe Kafei was different. No one would tell me _how_, but enough people told me _so_ that I should believe it, right?  
"We'll be late. It's dark. Come on." He pulled me towards South Clock Town, which was filling up with crowds from all over Termina.

I usually loved this time of year. Everything was so busy and warm. And then at midnight the door would open and we'd all go up..

But I'd already been up. And there was something churning in my stomach, threatening to empty it. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. I didn't see Kafei around. I did see my mother, though… She waved. Grandma wasn't with her. That was weird. Grandma usually made the biggest deal about this time of year, jabbering to all the customers at the inn with her stories even after the big night. She'd regale us with tales of her youth all year long. She was probably just a little late. Mother would go back to get her... She was taking a nap or something.

The sun had fallen awhile ago, and we all knew it was nearing midnight. Not only because of the huge clock, but because Mayor Dotour was striding towards the town center to announce entrance to all of us. Lady Aroma was with him... Kafei was not. That was weird, too. Everyone felt something missing without the blue-haired boy up there with his parents, but festivities were far from halted for one or two absences. People were still passing glasses and giving toasts and smiling.

Everyone but Gorman. Even I had managed a smile, but he was looking.. Reserved. Well, not that really.. But excited. Yes, excited. Was this gift really so great it could please both of us so immensely? Usually the flowers or small vials of perfume he gave me brought the mirror of a smile to his face -matching mine- but I doubt he got any real happiness from it. What could he be giving me that would affect him so?

It was a minute before time and he turned to me, raising my palm to his lips in a rather odd-feeling kiss. Tenderness was lost on him.. What was that? But my frown evaporated as the doors opened with an eruption of cheers and flashing colors and everyone started filing up the stairs.

"Another year together.. That makes three.." It was about an hour after we'd all been let up the clock tower.. Gorman had clung to my hand and taken me away from the crowds to the very deserted North part of the town. There was no floating faerie balloon and the accompanying little boy tonight. There was no grinning man running in circles or that old lady from the bomb shop making that daily route back to West Clock Town. There was only him and me. For some reason, that sent a chill down my spine.

"Ever been in the fairy fountain? The water isn't really water.. It doesn't get you wet, but it's warm. It's.. Magical." He said wistfully, pulling me into a short kiss before pulling me into the little cave opening.

It sounded like someone was playing a harp.. But there wasn't anyone around... We never knew what the fountain was really for. Legend had it there was a Great Fairy that resided here... Who would offer her assistance to those pure of heart and valor... No one had any proof of actually seeing her but the story was famous. No one told a better version than grandma, either.

He brought me to a corner and gently pushed me against the wall. "Anju.. I think I love you."

_What_? He what?! He loved me? No he didn't.. He must have been mistaken. My lips pursed and I was going to say something but he claimed my mouth with his. It was the same as it was before... Hard and merciless. Sloppy and tasteless. It was weird, but it was nice. So I didn't break it this time. I should get used to it, anyway.. This was how relationships progressed, right?

It was less than innocent, but I let it happen. It was harmless... Wasn't it?

Yeah. That was when his hand found itself leaving trails of sensations up my leg and under my skirt, the other moving from holding my neck to heatedly unbuttoning my blouse.

Was this his present? This was somewhat innapropriate.. Was he seriously trying to do this when I was 15? The thought of him actually being 19 flashed in my mind. Everyone told me how _mature_ I was for my age.. And we _had_ been together three years.. This was okay, wasn't it?

Then why did I feel like I was going to cry? Why was I shaking as his tongue paraded in it's nearly forced entry of my mouth?

My hand moved to take his from my leg, my face pulling violently from his. "Gorman..." He looked at me like he was going to hit me. Like I was that wolfo he'd been hunting that had gotten away. He wasn't looking at me like I was something he loved.. I was lust. His _lust_. He wanted to own me.

But I had always known that.. And even liked it. But it hadn't been like this before. It had been like a man owns a garden.. Tending to it and watering it and protecting it from harsh weather. He owned me like a head on his wall.. For people to come and see and be envious of.

I didn't like that...

* * *

Wooh! This took me FOREVER. I started it Saturday but like.. I had to leave and didn't get to continue till like.. 9.. And now it's 10.. X.x Ick ick.. XD 

But I'm done.. Did yawh like it? I don't like Gorman.. I want something better to happen. But rating has been bumped.. I suppose I can't go to far without muh PG13.. X.x

R&R!! XD Thankies..


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